June 20, 2012

The Summer of Shorts Marathon: Introduction + Giveaway

Welcome to the
first day of summer, everyone, and welcome to the first day of the
Summer of Shorts marathon.

This is the
beginning of a summer-long dedication to short stories, something I
decided to do when I saw the plethora of short fiction on my
to-be-read pile. There's going to be a blog post each weekday for the
rest of the summer that in some way highlights short fiction. Sounds
a bit daunting, I know, which is why I've finagled a lot of talented
writers to help me, so they will be stopping by the blog all summer
long.

I'm talking
anthologies, magazines, short story collections, and even some
novellas. Expect to see interviews, guest posts, round tables, fave
five lists, and a few giveaways.

Lisa's short story collection
set in Los Angeles.

Speaking of
giveaways, I figured I'd kick this marathon off right with a little
giveaway. I looked over my bookshelf and decided to give away Lisa
Morton's collection, Monsters of L.A. I reviewed this book
back in January shortly after its release. If you're interested in
reading my review and getting my two cents on it, you can click here.

To give you an idea
of what the book is about, here's the book info via Amazon:

In these pages you’ll find the dark stars you grew up watching:
Frankenstein, Dracula, Mr. Hyde, the Phantom, the Hunchback…all the
silent ones and the first to find their voices are here, and they’re
even presented in roughly the order in which they first appeared on a
silver screen. The Haunted House of the ‘30s gives way to the Werewolf
of the ‘40s, the Monsters of L.A. Creature of the ‘50s, and so on, all
the way up to our favorite modern boogeyman, the Zombie.

In some
of these stories, you’ll find an earthly incarnation of a famous
namesake: Frankenstein is a patched-together, homeless vet, the
Invisible Woman is so ordinary you’d never see her; but some of these
familiar friends — Dracula, the Devil, or those seriously creepy Clowns —
will be instantly recognizable.

The rules for the
giveaway are super easy. All you need to do is be a follower of this
blog in some fashion, and live in Canada or the good ol' U.S. of A. Just enter
via the Rafflecopter form down below between now and July 2nd, and
I'll pick a winner at random on July 3rd.

3 comments:

Honestly, most of the short stories I read are those that are fillers between series books. In general I'm not a short story lover but it does give you a chance to "test drive" authors you are unfamiliar with.One that has a gorgeous cover that you will keep touching is Classic Tales of Vampires & Shapeshifters.